Zhongshou Special Steel has successfully commissioned a new Arvedi ESP (Endless Strip Production) plant supplied by Primetals Technologies at its Luanzhou facility in Hebei Province, China. The first coil was produced on May 13, just five days after the first cast, while endless mode operations commenced on May 16.
The facility is the 11th Arvedi ESP plant commissioned worldwide and the largest of its kind to date. Equipped with a 130-mm-thick caster, four roughing stands, and five finishing stands, the line is designed to produce a broad range of steel grades, from low-carbon steels to high-strength low-alloy products.
The project marks a key milestone in Zhongshou’s strategy to replace the conventional blast furnace-basic oxygen furnace route with an electric arc furnace (EAF)-based steelmaking process combined with endless casting and rolling technology. The company said the investment supports its ambitions to strengthen low-carbon steel production and improve competitiveness in markets increasingly influenced by carbon-related regulations, including the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
According to Primetals Technologies, the new facility is the first second-generation Arvedi ESP plant installed in China and incorporates several innovations in both casting and rolling operations. The plant benefits from operational experience gained from ten previously commissioned Arvedi ESP lines, which have collectively produced more than 170 mln tons of coils worldwide.
The mill is capable of producing HRC in thicknesses ranging from 0.7 mm to 12.7 mm, utilizing the full advantages of the endless casting and rolling process.
Primetals said the Arvedi ESP process offers significant energy savings and lower carbon emissions compared with conventional hot-strip production routes, while enabling the manufacture of high-quality hot-rolled steel products.
